Central New York Playhouse presents this early Simon hit very handily with a solid cast and a stage full enough of used furniture and props to outfit a second household.

Director Dan Rowlands (he also did the set design) has used every bit of available space, including the stage’s front and side peripheries, to present this poignant, yet very funny, story of the Jerome family, a lower middle-class Jewish family, probably not unlike Simon’s own.

We are put in the hands of a narrator, Eugene Morris Jerome (Josh Hintz), who “breaks character” and the sacred “fourth wall” of drama, throughout (reminiscent of Thornton Wilder’s Stage Manager in “Our Town”) in order to tell his and his family’s story. He is a lively fifteen-year-old whose preoccupations lay somewhere between the New York Yankees and someday being able to see a girl without clothes.

Despite its denseness, Rowlands’ set works quite well in delineating spaces within the household with living room, dining room, and kitchen downstage and a stairway at stage right leading to raised bedrooms occupied by Eugene and his older brother Stanley (Justin Polly) in one, and their two cousins, Nora and Laurie (Erin Griffin and Zoe Miller, respectively) in the other. It succeeds at representing a fairly large house which has other, unseen, bedrooms for their parents Jack and Kate (Keith Arlington and Betsy York) and their aunt, Blanche (Lesley Heisler).

One caveat I would offer related to this set is for the actors, in general, to be mindful of increasing voice projection when “buried” in the confines of the “upstairs” spaces. Specifically, dialogue from Griffin and Miller was often difficult to discern, given the additional distance compounded by the set’s denseness of heavy, sound absorbing materials like mattresses, blankets, walls and furniture.

Aside from covering a plethora of themes from family loyalty to sexual awakening and even the impending routing of Jews in Poland, Simon manages to flesh out a bevy of interesting characters, while serving up heaps of his signature dry humor.

Hintz’s Eugene, ostensibly Simon, himself, although continuously beset by problems related to sexual awakening, win/loss columns in baseball, and hazards of the household’s cuisine (he refers to liver and cabbage as “Jewish medieval torture”) is, nevertheless, keenly aware of family stresses and loyalties. His obsession with catching his cousin, Nora, in the nude, is a source of much innocent humor as it bridges the gap between his impersonations of sports heroes, and his teetering on the edge of maturity. Hintz’s fresh-faced Eugene seems a credible narrator because we like him.

Betsy York’s Kate is seemingly in two places simultaneously as she “rules the roost”, doling out directions and warnings to all within earshot, especially to her younger son, Eugene. She seems the right combination of strength and empathy to take on a never-ending, self-imposed matriarchal suffering in dealing with all the problems of everyone in the household. Her prescription for dealing with those outside the family are as simple as, “Stay on your side of the street; that’s what they have gutters for”.

Keith Arlington’s Jack, the overworked paternal force, is the understanding father and uncle. His counsel is sought and respected by all as he balances the needs of his family with working two jobs and fending against forces beyond his control. Arlington lends maturity and believability to the role, and is particularly effective as he relates to his son, Stanley.

Whether he was, or not, Justin Polly seemed to be born to play roles like Stanley, that is, the barely “out-of-the-nest” character who starts to see the world as it is, rather than a fiction where “anything is possible, even playing for the Yankees”. Stanley, one year out of high school and already working in a haberdashery to help support the family, embodies what Simon might have seen as the perfect older brother, a combination of confidence, experience, and savvy. Polly moves about with every movement matching his mood and verbal expression, and armed with just the right turn-of-phrase uttered in realistic “Brooklynese”.

Female problems go unneglected as Simon includes Kate’s sister, Blanche, and her two daughters as part of the household. From teenage angst (Nora), to prepubescent hypochondria (Laurie), to the fears and tensions of early widowhood (Blanche), the Jerome family handles all with good spirit and acceptance.

Details: Length of Performance: 2 hours, 15 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
Attendance: Nearly-full house on opening night.
Family Guide: For mature high school and older. Some sexual references.

Central New York Playhouse presents Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” at their theater in Shoppingtown Mall from April 12 through 27, 2013. For tickets and information: 315-885-8960 and www.cnyplayhouse.com